On the streets of Gombe in northeastern Nigeria, motorcycles carrying workers, traders, and students usually fill the air with engine noise and exhaust fumes. But recently, a new kind of vehicle has started gliding through traffic almost silently: electric motorcycles.
This quiet transportation shift is driven not by environmental policy, but by economic necessity. Ever since President Bola Tinubu removed Nigeria's long-standing petrol subsidy in May 2023, fuel prices have skyrocketed across the country. In Gombe, petrol now sells for about 1,365 naira ($1) per litre, up sharply from roughly 200 naira (15 cents) before the subsidy ended. The price surge has squeezed household budgets and forced commuters to rethink how they get around.
For local residents, switching to an electric bike offers immediate financial relief. Ayuba Abubakar, a farmer in Gombe, switched to an electric motorcycle earlier this year and says he saves about 5,000 naira ($3.70) a week on fuel. Other riders point out that they no longer spend money on regular engine oil changes, and the bikes require very little maintenance. However, high initial costs remain a significant hurdle: electric bikes typically cost around 1 million naira ($735), which is still out of reach for most families.
A larger challenge is Nigeria's notoriously unreliable electricity grid. Many households receive only a few hours of power each day, leading clean-energy experts to warn that charging bikes with petrol or diesel generators would simply transfer emissions from motorcycle exhausts to generator pipes.
To make electric mobility practical and truly clean, experts recommend building solar-powered battery-swapping stations, lowering import duties on electric bike components, and setting up battery recycling infrastructure. As petrol prices stay high, these quiet electric bikes may mark the beginning of a broader transformation in how Nigerians travel.